Between Wednesday and Thursday I’ve learned that there’s absolutely no sense in attempting to control what and how much you eat at food shows. Food shows are rather dangerous (though delicious) events. All attempts to regard food in such a manner that would classify as “normal” failed. After suffering from a severely swollen stomach Wednesday night and numerous mutterings of, “I won’t overeat and behave like a mad glutton,” I nonetheless ended up consuming waaaay more than any human should ever consider. I’ll try knock the blame somewhere else – why did there have to be so much food!The show was already crowded on day one but it seemed as if the numbers doubled on the following day and tripled an hour prior to the end of the show. I’d soon figure out this was because many people were keen on scooping up the last batches of food samples and hopefully some free goodies! The majority were local vendors, many of whom you’ll see in the upcoming Made in Hawaii Festival next month. Salts, marinades, flavored sugar, cookies and more lilikoi curd than you could consume in a lifetime.Trays of petit fours and hor’dourves running from garlic pesto shrimp wrapped in puff pastry to goat cheese and Maui onion tarts. The problem with having so much variety is that I feel obligated to try them all :)Coffee and chocolate macaron samples from Sweet Street. The lilikoi, guava and pistachio were equally scrumptious but I them all before realizing I should have paused to take a picture. How the tiny creations simply melt away upon the first bite, miraculous!Various bread samples…And more bread…ahhh, the never ending carb fest. It’s the only way to go.From the Maui Culinary Academy:Similar to a crabcake, only with North Shore Cattle Co. beef and mixed with a savory tangle of onions, spices, carrots and peas over tangy bittermelon namasu. Oh joy! This was the first time I’ve had bittermelon that wasn’t in soup or a stirfry and I must say, I could easily get use to this!From our booth, creamy mango mousse in little caps of smooth dark chocolate, various petit fours (the dark chocolate almonds were my favorite), a very heavy and sinful chocolate pound cake, almond brownies and blondies (which were affectionately marketed as “haoles!” – lol).We also had over a dozen cakes that were just as, if not more attractive than the one above. About half were sliced up for samples, oh believe me, if I could magically blog one over to you, I definitely would have! The Weilers were so kind to offer me to take one home (in addition to a trio of tiny tiramisus), and who was I to refuse? :)

I had such a toothache last night from a severe over consumption of sweets! The coffee guys in the neighboring booth brewed up one too many lovely cups of hazelnut cappuccinos for me. Chef Ernesto at the other end of Y.Hata presented me a most magnificent plate with four types of meat: osso buco, tenderloin in a rich mustard sauce, seared sterling steak and the star of the dish: a fabulously fatty, juicy cut of pork belly. Oooooh tremble, I sometimes forget how much I love that fatty cut of meat. Tear me an end of your crusty baguette to go with the belly and I’ll fall at your knees! Oh god, why is my stomach starting to growl again?

Hey Ron!Oh yes yes! Ahhh, fat and meats go together like (lots) of butter and a warm baugette :)Hey Kirk,I had MORE than enough to eat – unfortunately only my stomach and not my eyes or hands were aware of that fact, lol!